I just recently finished the book “Eat that Frog” by Brian Tracy. The book speaks of Time Management and getting more done. I enjoyed the book and was going to share a few ideas from the book in the next couple of post. At the beginning, the thoughts are random and towards the end I will place them in order as the book mentioned. Here they go:
Change the way you think and do things
Apply things until they become a habit
Why do some people get more done than others? They do things right, use time differently – and what they do, I can do too, just ask them and do same thing.
Key to success is action
Always much to do and more ideas, but key is to focus on most impor things
Do hardest thing first and then the easiest
If have to eat a live frog, it’s not going to help sitting there and looking at it – just do it
Activity and accomplishment are often confused, but not the same
Learn to start and finish a job
Practice is key to master something
To become a successful person – Decision, Discipline and Determination
A. Decide what you want or are expected
B. Write it down – goals not in writing lead to not getting things done
C. Set deadline on goal
D. Make a list of steps to complete job
E. Organize the list into a plan – what to do now and what to do later
F. Take action on the plan – execution
G. Do something every day towards the goal – discipline of reading or doing things give you fuel to continue
Long term thinking improves short term decision making. Making decisions of the present is easier when you know what your long term goal is. What are the future consecuences or benefits of what I am going to do in the present.
First law of success is concentration – bend all strenghts to one point and focus on that point.
There is never enough time to do everything, but always time to do important things.
We may never be able to catch up, so get that out of your mind – better to just do what is most important and forget the rest.
3 questions on getting things done:
1. What are my highest value activities
2. What can I and only I do that is done well and that can make a difference
3. What is the most valuable use of my time right now – this is the core question of time management.
Every hour of every day I need to ask this question. Do first things first and second things… not at all.
When fully prepared, you can get much more done. Most creative people make the place they work at a nice, comfortable and clean place where they are going to work – this will help you work well. The cleaner and neater, the more effective and efficient you feel to work.
Learn what you need to learn so you can do what you are supposed to do. Much of procrastination is because we don’t know exactly how to do what we are going to do. Continuous learning is a key to success. What others know, I can learn as well.
There are certain things you can do or learn to do that can make you valuable to others.
You can not do everything, but you can do those things that make you accel
How do you eat an elephant? – one bite at a time – and the same method is used to finish a big job.
Only about 2% of people can do work entirely without supervision – they are called leaders. Learn to put the pressure on yourself. The world is full of people waiting for someone to come and motivate them to be the type of people they should be – but no one is coming to help them.
Keep yourself motivated and be your own cheerleader.
Don’t share your problems with others because 80% don’t care anyway and the other 20% are glad you have those problems.
Don’t blame others, accept responsibility, don’t dwell on the negative.
Go the extra mile, do more than you are paid for. Wake up earlier, stay up later, work a little harder.
Successful people put the pressure on themselves. Work as though you have 1 day left to get all the things done – become a high performanced person.
Write out the steps to do projects and then work exclusively on these task.
If you do things when you are energized, you will get more done as oppossed to being tired. Turn off the TV and go to sleep. Take off one day a week and relax, do things that will not tax your brain and allow your brain to recharge itself – a change is as good as a rest. A vacation, a weekend off, etc will rejuvenate you. Be careful of what you eat – feed yourself as you would feed a world-class athlete before a competition because that is what you are before you are before beginning that task. And finishing the task gives you more energy and helps you feel like you have accomplished much.
One of most powerful words in time management is “NO” – say it often and say it quickly. Do not accept things that you can not do.
Always do the most difficult job first
Many have become best sellers because they have written 1 page a day until finishing the job – working in time segments will help you tremendously (read so much of a book, exercise for 30 minutes, call during this part of the day, etc). Someone who creates blocks of time completes more than the normal person. Remember that the pryamides were built one stone at a time. Make every minute count by planning and preparing your work in advance.
The key to happiness and effectiveness is to eat the frog, the difficult task, every day before starting other things.
Here to Serve,
Jeff Bush
www.reachingall.com
